CARBON EMISSION CHARACTERIZATION FOR THE LEBANESE CEMENT INDUSTRY, AND POTENTIAL CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION ROADMAP FOR LEBANON

Abstract

The continuously increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere are causing profound impacts on human livability and ecosystems. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released in 2021, stressed that immediate, rapid, and large-scale greenhouse gas emissions’ reductions must be achieved if the 1.5°C and the 2°C warming limits are to be kept within our reach. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is expected to play a decisive role in controlling these emissions globally. The deployment and success of this technology hinge on the enabling governmental policies, programs, and roadmaps that guide its foundations and track its progress and milestones. This paper provides a comprehensive and critical review of published roadmaps by various countries worldwide. The readiness for each CCS roadmap is assessed by evaluating 1) the state of the art of this technology’s implementation, along with its planned and executed projects, and 2) the contribution of CCS in attaining the national environmental targets. This paper reveals, as well, the crucial strategies and actions that should be included in an effective and achievable roadmap. It shows how the actual CCS progress in the countries that have adopted a roadmap, is reflected by the high classification of these nations on the worldwide scale for CCS implementation. Some of these countries are the leaders in the field, like the United States of America. However, this study has found no correlation between CCS actual deployment and the level of the roadmap development – or completeness. The calculation of the correlation coefficient is based on a comparative assessment of the reviewed roadmaps. The study concluded that the importance of a roadmap stems from its crucial role as a tool for guidance and monitoring of the CCS deployment. Eventually, this paper is intended to pave the way for countries planning to develop CCS roadmaps. It is essential to identify the main generators of greenhouse gases (GHG), particularly carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere, in the aim of implementing the carbon capture directly at its source. Consequently, the cement factories, as abundant fabricators of carbon dioxide, are important spots for carbon capture. In this paper we will present the CO2 capture advancements in the cement industry and the plans for commercialization in this domain. The conclusions will be projected on the Lebanese context of cement manufacturing by investigating the current situation of the factories, their production, operations, and a forecast of future demand. Finally, we have performed a scenario analysis for the Lebanese cement industry emissions, assessing the medium-term (2030) and the long-term (2050) horizons. The drawn scenarios expect the different evolution of the local cement market, as well as the exportation portion of the production. Also, we estimated the effect of some measures for the reduction of GHG emissions like the reduction of the clinker to cement ratio and the use of alternative fuel in firing the kiln.